Singapore “happiest country” in ASEAN, followed by Thailand

Singapore tops the list of happiest countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, in the World Happiness Report 2016, which was just released by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network of the United Nations. Thailand and Malaysia follow on rank two and three in the region, respectively.

The survey looked at a total of 157 countries worldwide. The happiest three countries globally are Denmark, Switzerland and Iceland, and the least happy nations are Togo, Syria and Burundi. Interestingly, Bhutan, which made happiness a state doctrine as early as in the 1970, just ranks 84th on the list.

Globally, Singapore also ranks 22nd-happiest country in the world, moving two notches up from the previous list. Thailand inched one place up from last year’s 34th rank.

In the report, about 3,000 people were polled in each country and asked to evaluate their life in six categories, which are per capita GDP, level of social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity and freedom from corruption. The researcher then produce a score from the data using a special algorithm. The report also has a ranking of “equality of well-being”, a new category introduced to measure inequality.

Singapore tops the list of happiest countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, in the World Happiness Report 2016, which was just released by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network of the United Nations. Thailand and Malaysia follow on rank two and three in the region, respectively.

The survey looked at a total of 157 countries worldwide. The happiest three countries globally are Denmark, Switzerland and Iceland, and the least happy nations are Togo, Syria and Burundi. Interestingly, Bhutan, which made happiness a state doctrine as early as in the 1970, just ranks 84th on the list.

Globally, Singapore also ranks 22nd-happiest country in the world, moving two notches up from the previous list. Thailand inched one place up from last year’s 34th rank.

In the report, about 3,000 people were polled in each country and asked to evaluate their life in six categories, which are per capita GDP, level of social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity and freedom from corruption. The researcher then produce a score from the data using a special algorithm. The report also has a ranking of “equality of well-being”, a new category introduced to measure inequality.